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Our Mission

St. John's University is Catholic, Vincentian, and Metropolitan.

As a university,

we commit ourselves to academic excellence and the pursuit of wisdom which flows from free inquiry, religious values and human experience. We strive to preserve and enhance an atmosphere in which scholarly research, imaginative methodology, global awareness and an enthusiastic quest for truth serve as the basis of a vital teaching-learning process and the development of lifelong learning. Our core curriculum in the liberal arts and sciences aims to enrich lives as well as professions and serves to unify the undergraduate experience. Graduate and professional schools express our commitment to research, rigorous standards, and innovative application of knowledge. We aim not only to be excellent professionals with an ability to analyze and articulate clearly what is, but also to develop the ethical and aesthetic values to imagine and help realize what might be.

St. John’s is a Catholic university,

founded in 1870 in response to an invitation of the first Bishop of Brooklyn, John Loughlin, to provide the youth of the city with an intellectual and moral education. We embrace the Judeo-Christian ideals of respect for the rights and dignity of every person and each individual’s responsibility for the world in which we live. We commit ourselves to create a climate patterned on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ as embodied in the traditions and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Our community which comprises members of many faiths, strives for an openness which is “wholly directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8). Thus, the university is a place where the Church reflects upon itself and the world as it engages in dialogue with other religious traditions.

St. John’s is a Vincentian university,

inspired by St. Vincent de Paul’s compassion and zeal for service. We strive to provide excellent education for all people, especially those lacking economic, physical, or social advantages. Community service programs combine with reflective learning to enlarge the classroom experience. Wherever possible, we devote our intellectual and physical resources to search out the causes of poverty and social injustice and to encourage solutions which are adaptable, effective, and concrete. In the Vincentian tradition, we seek to foster a world view and to further efforts toward global harmony and development, by creating an atmosphere in which all may imbibe and embody the spirit of compassionate concern for others so characteristic of Vincent.

St. John’s is a metropolitan university.

We benefit from New York City’s cultural diversity, its intellectual and artistic resources, and the unique professional educational opportunities offered by New York, Rome and other cities throughout the world where our students study and serve. With this richness comes responsibility. We seek and welcome opportunities to partner and plan with our metropolitan communities. We encourage them to use our intellectual resources and professional expertise in developing solutions that address strategic issues of mutual concern. On the local, state, national and international levels, our alumni serve as effective leaders and responsible citizens. We pledge to foster those qualities required for anticipating and responding to the educational, ethical, cultural, social, professional, and religious needs of a dynamic world.

Mission Statement of St. John’s University, New YorkApproved by the Board of Trustees, March 13, 2008

Core Values

Truth

Knowledge in accord with reality, behavior faithful to ethical standards. St. John’s affirms the threefold mission of a university to seek truth through research, to disseminate it through teaching and to act on it. The University values and utilizes the perspectives of different cultures to assist its members in seeking truth and developing ethical standards, while affirming the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Love

Focusing and extending minds and hearts to nurture one’s own and another’s good. Love expressed in the University community is not a feeling but an action for the corporate good manifested through the time, talent and energy of its members. It is a responsible dedication to utilize available resources and turn them towards humanity’s good.

Respect

Awareness of and esteem for all individuals. A courteous regard for all people whose diversity is embraced and shared in learning, teaching and service to others within the University community and beyond.

Opportunity

Circumstances favorable to serving others and preparing one’s self for a fulfilling life. Guided by its central commitment to equality, justice and Christian morality, the University makes its resources available to all its members to pursue their individual and collective interests.

Excellence

Striving, growing, never being complacent. The St. John’s Community empowers and inspires students, staff, faculty and administration to succeed in programs which assist them in every area of achievement.

Service

Vincentian spirituality in action, a response to God’s call to give of ourselves. Our obligation and commitment to service lie not only in our active compassion as an institution, but in the cultivation of these priorities and values in the members of our community. We are committed to a life of stewardship as a caretaker of God-given talents, resources and knowledge, and caregiver responding to the needs of others.